Discourse ZA is a podcast and YouTube channel featuring conversations about South African politics, philosophy, economics, and more. We host the following shows: *The Small Print, hosted by Bronwyn Williams *The TK Show, hosted by TK Pooe *Conversations with Gwen, hosted by Gwen Ngwenya
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Fostering Public Engagement: Academics, Politics & Media
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TK Pooe & Sanet Solomon | The TK Show In this episode, TK interviews political analyst Sanet Solomon. They discuss the current state of South African politics under the GNU government, the need for academics to foster a culture of public engagement, and how to balance listening to non-expert perspectives while preserving academic rigour. They also …
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TK Pooe & Thabang Motsohi | The TK Show In this episode, TK speaks with Thabang Motsohi about his book, Fit for Purpose. They discuss the core challenges impacting the growth and success of South African institutions, the organisational structure of the ANC, and why, due to conflicting ideological principles and perceptions within its Tripartite Al…
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Bronwyn Williams & Brooks Spector | The Small Print In this episode, Bronwyn speaks with political commentator and former US diplomat Brooks Spector about the recent turbulence in US politics and its potential global impact. Together, they take us on a tour across the world, exploring how a Trump or Harris presidency could affect Ukraine, Russia, C…
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Bronwyn Williams & Andrew McLuhan | The Small Print In this episode, Bronwyn speaks with Andrew McLuhan, the grandson of the noted media theorist Marshall McLuhan. They discuss the enduring relevance of Marshall's ideas, particularly 'the medium is the message,' in today's digital age. The conversation also explores how the COVID-19 pandemic accele…
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South Africa vs France: Whose Politics Would You Choose?
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TK Pooe & Marianne Severin | The TK Show This episode was recorded on 15 July 2024. In this episode, TK speaks to Dr. Marianne Séverin about the differences and parallels between South Africa and France. They discuss the impact of political corruption on South Africa, the history of the National Front and Jean-Marie Le Pen in France, what motivates…
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The Realignment of South African Politics
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Bronwyn Williams & Mandy Wiener | The Small Print In this episode, Bronwyn speaks to journalist and author Mandy Wiener about South Africa’s ever-evolving political situation. How unified is our government of national unity? How binding are the agreements between the ANC and its GNU partners? What stops Ramaphosa from changing his cabinet at will? …
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Free Speech, Hate Speech, and the Inconsistency of Our Courts
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Bronwyn Williams & Mark Oppenheimer | The Small Print In this episode, Bronwyn speaks with advocate Mark Oppenheimer about South Africa’s hate speech legislation and several notable cases: Jon Qwelane, Penny Sparrow, Vicki Momberg, Afriforum versus Julius Malema, and the controversy surrounding the old South African flag. They explore the definitio…
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Economic History: Lessons from the Past
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Bronwyn Williams & Johan Fourie | The Small Print In this episode, Bronwyn speaks to economic historian Johan Fourie. They discuss the progress humanity has made over the last few centuries, what the field of economics can do better, the mismatch between data and peprception, why GDP remains a useful measure of growth, the role of language in drivi…
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SA Election 2024: Review the Future
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TK Pooe & Justice Malala | The TK Show In this episode, TK speaks to Justice Malala to unpack South Africa’s 2024 elections. They discuss the rise and fall of the ANC, the new normal of coalition politics, the juxtaposition of hope and fear in the current political climate, the lack of political violence during the elections, why the Government of …
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Bronwyn Williams & Kyla Scanlon | The Small Print In this episode, Bronwyn speaks to one of the internet’s favourite financial educators, Kyla Scanlon, about her book, In this Economy? They discuss the hidden forces driving key economic outcomes, the most common economic myths, outdated assumptions that constrain our political imagination, and what…
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SA Election 2024: Can We Trust the Polls?
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TK Pooe & Lukhona Mnguni | The TK Show In this episode, TK speaks with political maverick Lukhona Mnguni. They explore Lukhona’s journey as a political commentator, delve into the difference between neutrality and objectivity, and discuss why Lukhona rejects the label “political analyst.” The conversation also addresses the fearmongering around the…
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Busting the “Disillusioned Youth” Myth
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Bronwyn Williams & Gareth van Onselen | The Small Print In this episode, Bronwyn speaks to political analyst Gareth van Onselen. They discuss his recent essay, in which Gareth challenges the common and popular narrative that suggests declining youth registration and voting patterns in South Africa are best attributed to disillusionment rather than …
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South Africa Election 2024: Who Will be Kingmaker?
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Bronwyn Williams & Ray Hartley | The Small Print In this episode, Bronwyn speaks to Research Director of the Brenthurst Foundation, Ray Hartley. They discuss South Africa’s upcoming election, the Bernthurst Foundation’s recent polling results, the likelihood of a coalition government, whether will Ramaphosa side with the centrists or the populists,…
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TK Pooe & Koffi M. Kouakou | The TK Show In this episode, TK speaks to Foresight and Scenario Planning Strategist Koffi M. Kouakou. They discuss Koffi’s upbringing in Côte d'Ivoire, how he became interested in scenario planning, food security in Africa, China’s success with central planning, the need for African countries to free themselves from th…
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Bronwyn Williams & Tessa Dooms | The Small Print In this episode, Bronwyn speaks to author Tessa Dooms about her latest book, “Coloured.” They discuss how “Coloured” communities are often sidelined in South Africa as people with no clear heritage or culture, why Coloured South Africans should embrace and celebrate their identity, and how her book w…
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Bronwyn Williams & Adriana Marais | The Small Print In this episode, Bronwyn speaks to theoretical physicist Dr. Adriana Marais. They discuss her plans to launch Africa's inaugural mission to the moon, how exploring uncharted territories breeds new ways of thinking and technological innovation, the phenomenon of resource extraction in space, the id…
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What Is Wrong with AI Ethics Discourse?
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Bronwyn Williams & Josh Gellers | The Small Print In this episode, Bronwyn speaks to Professor Josh Gellers about everything that is wrong with AI ethics discourse. Why are so many ethicists against AI? And why are they so thin-skinned? They discuss the need to embrace complexity in ethics, how bad incentives are hurting academia, the problem of pa…
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Bronwyn Williams & Germinal G. Van | The Small Print In this episode, Bronwyn speaks to entrepreneur and political scientist, Germinal G. Van. They discuss the relationship between capitalism and wealth inequality, inequality vs unfairness, the effect of monetary policy on inflation, the virtues of a commodity-backed economy, the entrepreneurial cu…
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Scenarios for South Africa’s Uncertain Future
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Bronwyn Williams & Ray Hartley | The Small Print In this episode, Bronwyn speaks to author Ray Hartley about his latest book, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Scenarios for South Africa’s Uncertain Future. They discuss the possible outcomes of the 2024 elections, how different outcomes would shape South Africa’s immediate future, the likelihood of …
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Bronwyn Williams & Jon Alexander | The Small Print In this episode, Bronwyn speaks to author Jon Alexander about his book Citizens: Why the Key to Fixing Everything is All of Us. They discuss the power of narratives, the need for institutions to treat us as citizens instead of consumers, the problem of hyperindividualism, the difference between cha…
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Bronwyn Williams & Cindy Gallop | The Small Print In this episode, Bronwyn speaks to Cindy Gallop, the founder of MakeLoveNotPorn, the world’s first user-generated, human-curated social sex video-sharing platform, celebrating realworld sex. They discuss how hardcore pornography has distorted the way a generation of young men thinks about sex, the i…
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Bronwyn Williams & Wandile Sihlobo | The Small Print Nearly three decades after the dawn of democracy, South Africa has remained a country of ‘two agricultures’. On the one hand we have a subsistence, primarily non-commercial, black farming segment. On the other hand, however, we have a predominantly commercial and white farming sector that is well…
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Bronwyn Williams & Steven Sidley | The Small Print In this episode, Bronwy speaks to author Steven Sidley about his latest book, It's Mine: How the Crypto Industry Is Redefining Ownership. They discuss the history of and concept of “ownership,” the complexity of guaranteeing ownership rights in the digital space, how blockchain technology can be re…
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Bronwyn Williams & Heidi Swart | The Small Print In this episode, Bronwyn speaks to investigative journalist Heidi Swart. They discuss the work the organisation Intelwatch is doing to expose and fight back against increasing state surveillance in South Africa — and Africa at large. The conversation covers emerging legislation that should be of conc…
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The Opportunities of Fragmented Politics
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TK Pooe & Ralph Mathekga | The TK Show In this episode, TK speaks to author and political analyst, Dr Ralph Mathekga. They discuss the complexities of local government, the trade-off between efficient service delivery and compliance, the fragmentation of global politics, tensions between BRICS countries, the impact of the war in Ukraine on Africa, …
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Bronwyn Williams & Asad Gaffar | The Small Print Recorded on 11 August ‘23. Homeowners in Westville and surrounding suburbs in Durban are opting to withhold their monthly rates payments in protest against eThekwini municipality’s recent tariff hike and failing service delivery. In this episode, Bronwyn speaks to the chairman of the Westville Ratepa…
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Are Property Rights Natural Rights?
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Bronwyn Williams & Martin van Staden | The Small Print In this episode, Bronwyn speaks to the head of the Free Market Foundation, Martin van Staden. They discuss property rights in South Africa, how much of South African land is publicly owned, the Khaya Lam project, the importance of giving people ownership, whether property rights are natural rig…
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Bronwyn Williams & William Gumede | The Small Print In this episode, Bronwyn speaks to author and political analyst William Gumede. They discuss the history and future of BRICS, South Africa’s role in it, the challenges and opportunities of a BRICS common currency, the importance of democracy for development, the historical ties between Russian and…
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Bronwyn Williams & TK Pooe | The Small Print In this episode, Bronwyn speaks to fellow Discourse ZA host TK Pooe about South Africa’s failure to become a middle-income country in spite of — or possibly because of — South Africa’s globally-lauded constitution. They discuss what it would take for South Africa to become a developmental state, the rela…
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Bronwyn Williams & Giulietta Talevi | The Small Print In this episode, Bronwyn speaks to the investing editor of the Financial Mail and Joburg resident Giulietta Talevi about the rapid demise of “the corrupt city of her dreams.” They discuss the investability of Johannesburg, the instability of coalition politics, how Joburg’s neo-feudal enclaves a…
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Corruption, Incompetence, or Ideology: What is to Blame for SA’s Woes?
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TK Pooe & John Endres | The TK Show In this episode, TK speaks to the head of the Insitute of Race Relations, John Endres. They discuss the IRR’s history in South Africa, the tenets of classical liberalism, the role of think tanks in South African politics, the relationship between the IRR and the DA, South Africa’s diminishing global reputation, a…
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The Plot to Save South Africa
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TK Pooe & Justice Malala | The TK Show In this episode, TK speaks to Justice Malala about his latest book, “The Plot to Save South Africa,” which tells the story of the nine tumultuous days after the assassination of Chris Hani in 1993. They discuss the political violence of the early 90s, why Chris Hani was Mandela’s heir apparent, and how Nelson …
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Bronwyn Williams & Theo Priestley | The Small Print Advancing algorithms, big data feeding artificial intelligence, precipitous machine learning and science fiction being replaced by science fact — all of these are radically affecting how we do business. The genie is out of the bottle and there's no way to stuff it back in again. In this episode, B…
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Bronwyn Williams & Geordin Hill-Lewis | The Small Print In this episode, Bronwyn speaks to the Mayor of Cape Town, Geordin Hill-Lewis. They discuss Geordin’s journey into politics, Cape Town’s homelessness crisis, how his office plans to manage the influx of people moving to Cape Town, the feasibility and desirability of a Cape secession movement, …
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Bronwyn Williams Lawrence Anton | The Small Print In this episode, Bronwyn speaks to activist Lawrence Anton about antinatalism, the ethical view that creating life is morally bad. They discuss some misconception people have about the movement, Lawrence’s own reasons for becoming an antinatalist, the relationship between antinatalism and climate al…
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Bronwyn Williams & Rich Mulholland | The Small Print In this episode, Bronwyn speaks to entrepreneur Rich Mulholland. They discuss the joys of reading, Rich’s journey to veganism, the tradeoffs between values, the philosophy of antinatalism, the dangers of audience capture and reflexive contrarianism, the problem of political polarisation, and the …
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Bronwyn Williams & Monika Bielskyte | The Small Print In this episode, Bronwyn speaks to futurist Monika Bielskyte. They talk about Monika’s latest project, “Protopia Futures”, which rejects the false binary of dystopian and utopian visions, and is based on principles of plurality, creativity, and the evolution of values. They also discuss the issu…
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Bronwyn Williams & Chris Hattingh | The Small Print In this episode, Bronwyn speaks to the CRA’s Head of Policy Analysis, Chris Hatting, about South Africa’s 2023 budget speech. They discuss the increasing costs of debt-servicing South Africa’s SOEs, the difficulty of accessing international investments after South Africa’s greylisting, the impact …
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What Is the Real State of the Nation?
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TK Pooe & Matlala Setlhalogile | The TK Show In this episode, TK is joined by political economist Matlala Setlhalogile to discuss the real state of the nation. They talk about the political fragmentation of South African society, the growing number of black middle-class citizens considering emigration, the need to cultivate a culture of active citi…
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Bronwyn Williams & Pali Lehohla | The Small Print “When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.” - Charles Goodhart In this episode, Bronwyn speaks to Statistician General of South Africa, Dr. Pali Lehohla. They discuss how statistics can be abused to tell one’s preferred narrative, the difficulty of extracting truth from number…
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Bronwyn Williams & Lars Doucet | The Small Print Land and the policies that govern it hold an incredible but largely forgotten power over our lives. When land is wasted and squandered, we get sky-high rents, oppressed workers, ruined businesses, depleted natural resources, a polluted earth, and an impoverished society. Poor land policy is the chief…
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Bronwyn Williams & Bruce Whitfield | The Small Print South Africa and its fraught political economy provide a fascinating case study into how it takes a particular brand of genius to thrive in a difficult domestic environment and to take those ideas and the businesses that deliver them global. In this episode, Bronwyn speaks to journalist Bruce Whi…
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A New Vision for South Africa
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Bronwyn Williams & Songezo Zibi | The Small Print While the structural conditions that created the initial inequalities in South Africa are a result of colonialism and apartheid, the worsening of this condition after 2010 is the result of political negligence, incompetence and rampant corruption borne out of a deep disconnection between the politic…
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Preparing for the Singularity
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Bronwyn Williams & David Wood | The Small Print In this episode, Bronwyn speaks to David Wood about his book, The Singularity Principles: Anticipating and managing cataclysmically disruptive technologies. They talk about what the singularity is, what it is not, and the steps humanity must take to ensure that we’ll experience a positive singularity …
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Bronwyn Williams & Nikolas Badminton | The Small Print In this episode, Bronwyn speaks to fellow futurist Nikolas Badminton about his upcoming book “Facing Our Futures.” They discuss some of the misconceptions people have about their work, what individuals and businesses can do to ensure that they are prepared for an unpredictable future, and why c…
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Bronwyn Williams & Nick Hedley | The Small Print In this episode of The Small Print, Bronwyn speaks to “the annoying climate guy”, Nick Hedley, about the global energy crisis. They discuss ways of addressing climate change without embracing degrowth policies, the decentralization of energy production, Europe’s accelerated transition to renewables, …
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Bronwyn Williams & Bryan Caplan | The Small Print In this episode of The Small Print, Bronwyn speaks to author Bryan Caplan about his latest book Don’t Be a Feminist: A Letter to My Daughter, a compilation of essays in which Caplan challenges the conventional view that we treat women less fairly than men as well as other social justice dogmas. Book…
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Bronwyn Williams & Velina Tchakarova | The Small Print In this episode of The Small Print, Bronwyn is joined by political scientist Velina Tchakarova to discuss the latest geopolitical trends playing out across the globe. They talk about the latest status on Russia’s war on Ukraine, the impact of Europe’s dependence on Russian gas, the idea of neut…
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Taking Refuge in the Virtual World
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Bronwyn Williams & Edward Castronova | The Small Print If people can inhabit virtual worlds that are more alluring and gratifying than reality, then how can the real world ever compete? In this episode of The Small Print, Brownyn speaks to professor Edward Castronova about the phenomenon of virtual realities. They discuss VR’s rising relevance, how…
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South Africa's Risks & Opportunities
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TK Pooe & Bheki Mahlobo | The TK Show In this episode of The TK Show, TK speaks to Senior Analyst at the Centre for Risk Analysis (CRA), Bheki Mahlobo. They talk about how ANC policies have contributed to South Africa’s high unemployment rate, what could be done to remedy the situation, and how other emerging countries have managed to avoid this pr…
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